ZURICH – For the IIHF’s new four-year cycle, which came into effect after the 2012 General Congress in Tokyo last September, the IIHF Event Department has introduced new medals and awards for IIHF championships, to be distributed in the 2012-2013 season and beyond beginning with the U20s. After almost a year of evaluating various design proposals in an effort to find innovative and modern replacements for the existing look, the first new medal & award sets were delivered to the various organizers of the U20 World Championships, the first events in the 2013 international ice hockey calendar. The new gold, silver and bronze medals will feature on the front side an attacking player in positive 3D relief and a defending player in 2D relief. Text showing IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP is placed in an angle around the edge in positive relief and polished. The back of the medal will have an IIHF logo in the middle, with the title text of the respective tournament places underneath the logo. Also receiving new updates were the IIHF Directorate awards, the European Women’s Champions Cup trophy, and the Best Player and MVP awards. New award designs have also replaced the commemorative plates that were previously given to winning teams in the lower divisions. The classic IIHF cup trophy will still be awarded to the top division champions. “All IIHF Championships hosts, excluding qualification championships, will receive Winner Awards, Directorate Awards, and a set of medals,” confirmed IIHF Event Manager Eric Trinkler. “The whole project started last December 2011 and was concluded in October 2012. The first awards & medals have already been handed to the winning teams participating in the U20 World Championship Divisions IA, IB, and IIA.” ADAM STEISS